After Masters of the Universe, I went into Matchbox more hopeful than I should have been. Skipping theaters for streaming should have tipped me off. It’s not a disaster. It’s just not good.
The action is the surprise. Fistfights and chase scenes alike are well put together, with a playful energy that never goes off the deep end. This isn’t Fast and Furious 9, where you stop believing anything on screen. The movie knows how far to push it, and that restraint pays off.
The humor helps too. A lot of the jokes land, and they’re a big reason I kept watching. There just aren’t enough of them. With more laughs, this could have lived in the same neighborhood as Free Guy. Instead, the comedy arrives in bursts, then vanishes for long stretches.
Those stretches are the problem. The story doesn’t hold up, and the film takes itself far too seriously when it shouldn’t. Some of the acting and direction turns heavy-handed, reaching for drama that a movie about toy cars doesn’t need. When it’s silly, it works. When it tries to be important, it drags.
You can feel a lighter, funnier movie buried in here, one that trusts its action and jokes to carry the day. What made it to the screen keeps hitting the brakes on itself.
If you grew up with those little die-cast cars or have an empty weekend to fill, it’ll pass the time. Everyone else should leave this one parked.
See Matchbox the Movie on TMDB
